Oil and gas separator



y 8, 1954 R. FOWLER 2,678,699

011. AND GAS SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 18, 1952 2 Sheefos-Sheet l QQLPH L. FOLULEQ INVENTOR.

BY W M QTTOQNEVS.

2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1952 QQLDl-l L. FOUJLEI E INVENTOR. BY 5W;

Patented May 18, 1954 TA ES OFF-I E I ;'--1H2 ..678.699V k i I fnmmms SEPARATOR: Ralph L. Fowler, Whittier, Calif., assignor to Superior Tank & Construction Co.,-"Los"Angcles, Calif.,"'a corporation ofiCalifornia s A Appl at o February s, 1952, ,s'ei-iai no; 212,194 a Claims'.

I 1 This invention relates to oil and gas separators. I

to facilitate the separation of gas from oil in the case of very foamy'or frothy oils.

A primary object of theinventionis 'topro vide an improved oil and gas fseparator'designed More specifically, an object of thelinventionis to provide an'oil and gas'separator which oper ates with a'maximum efficiency for, a maximum amount of structural steel employedin its construction.

Heretofore; a great majority of oil and gas s'p I arators havebeen constructed inftheform of cylindrical steel tanks wherein the influent'is spread around the cylindrical walls of the tank by'being introduced into the tank in a'tangential direction. Under these circumstances the'infiu ent swirls aroundthe interiorv of the tank'in: the

course of itsdescent and various means are- 1 0;- vided for baffiing the gas that emanatesfrom the swirling influent. Means are provided for con lecting the separated oil and conducting it from the bottom of the tank;

The-advantages of using a spherical'ta'nkare, of course, Well knownbut heretofore the use-oi spherical tanks in oil and gas separators-has been somewhat limited, p'rincip'a'lly'due to the fact that the shape of the tank has not been ordinarily regarded as conducive to providing interfaces between the liquid and gas of adequatearea. The present inventionutilizes" the advantages that are inherent in the "use of a spherical tank but provides interfaces between the liquid and gas which are of'adequate area so that the improved separator'can be used to advantage iii-treating oils of a very foamy or frothynature.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, v

the horizontal centraliplane therethroil h T which will be made manifest in'the following d-j tailed description and specifically pointed out'in the appended claims, referencefis had to meatcompanying drawings for an'illus'trative embodiment of theinvention,whereini' 'Figure 1 is a vertical section throughjanhfl and gas separator embodying thepresent inv'en-f Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionftaken"substan} tiallyupon theline 2+2 upon'Fig. 1 in th'dir'ec tionindicated; and

Fig.3 is a partial vertical section takensubstantially uponthe line 3-'-3 upon Fig. l'iii the direction indicated.

Referring to the accompanying drawing wheretion' as indicated at 13, see Fig. 2.

outlet is usually provided withaf back "p s"- as'to discharge the influent in a an; 'entialdi f The I gas outlet 7 from thetank is "indica t L and in' accordance with conventional pra sure regulator valve. Abafile, generally indie ed 1. is meu ted i n, h llfifil 'b fia M I g a s outlet. This baflie may be of any convlen or preferred construction and insofarijas the entinvention is concerned, the use or an ticular' baffle'may be regarded as optiona ry, functioriof the b flieis to preven quid flal rig particles om "passing into the outlet i h as: 4:

The oil outlet is indicated at lii whichj into thefltank adj acent the bottom ithereo outlet is iconventionallyl equipped with a actuated valve, not shown, which" is 'jac tu the-neat "l'i disposed' within the tank; r operatesthrough a fitting liitoactuatelthe v v'e inth'e outletj 5150 that the outl'eti's only open when there is liquid intheb0ttoinofthe tank to pass into the outlet; At the very bottomjofjthe tank there may be an additional outlet i9'throujgh which sand andjsediment may be flushedfout 'of *hef tank from time to time "as occasion may ql 's ,As; a means of providing a, relativelylarge'p inaryfinterface between the oil and'the ga facilitate separation a shallow, conical "pair (20 positioned within the tank aver/ shtiya pan extends 'from j side" w al'l liQv Side wall of tankfexcept at two locations whichfwil'l hei after be referred to; 'This panj'in eiiectffdivides the interior of the tankinto anupper'ga s 5 her 21 andia lower liquid chamber'zz. fflhe an Zli has an oil"dra'in* 23* extending downwardly therefrom toa point adjacent the bottompi the tank. Within the bottom of the tank hereare three" partitions 2;, =25, "and 26 which diy de'th lower'portion of thetank int'o'two 'compartm One'compartment is designed toreceive thatdesc'ends through the'oil drain'23 j 'l compartment'providesa quieting chamb accordance with the true liquid level iiftliej t Ingress' to" 'hi's compartment is mice p'os b e through notches 21 that are forniedfin th bot tomsof thepartitions 25 and26. .-,At ,one sideof the pan the edge of he' panis cutawayas indicatedatZB anda'plate 29 has in similar reference characters designate :similar its edges weldedto the interior ofrthetank: The central, portion of this plate is spacedzfromithe nk W 1 9 ?v i s r e 3 wnsi eieci zil i ii ticaldijrection to coniormtothe general cur-ya;-

ture'of the'sphere. Thisplate s ar er-s a ing the tank wall to define an overflow passage 30 leading from some distance above the top of the pan to a point Well within the liquid compartment 22. In a similar manner, the edge of the pan is recessed or cut away as indicated at 3! and a plate.32 is welded theretoand to the walls of thetanbdefiningagas passage.33 that ex tends from above the quieting chamber and from the top of the lower chamber 22 to a point close to the bafile IS.

The operation of the above-described-construction is as follows:

If foamy or frothy oil is-supplied to'thetank through the inlet l2 this foam or :froth issspread, over the shallow pan and builds up thereon. .As.

this pan extends practically '-across-the entire sphere at about the center thereof an interface of large area is provided wherein a primary separationofgas from oil may take place. The separated oil will tend to collect on the bottom ofthe man 20 and drain downwardly therethrough -through the oil drain '23. The oil that descends through the oil drain is not necessarily free from her-through the notches 2? in the partitions-25 and-26Iis usually relatively-free of gas and conse- .quently, the float has an .opportunity to indicate the. approximate truev liquid level within the tank. If desired, the. float may be supplemented by a sight glass whichcanbeattachedto the tank on removal of.the plugs 34..so that theoil level within .theitank may be visually .observed.

It willibeappreciatedthat after .the primary Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the apended claims.

I claim:

: 1. An cit-and gas separator comprisinga spherical tank, a shallow pan extending across the tank 'aadjaoent its center, means providing an inlet to the tank discharging onto the pan, an oil drain leading tothe bottom of the tank from the pan, .means-providing'an oil outlet from adjacent the bottomof thetankiand a gas outlet adjacent the .topcfthe tankmartition means dividing the lower portion .of the tank into an oil chamber and a quietin'g'fioatehamber, a float in the float chambergandrmeans for conducting gas from said oil chamber and quieting chamber to the upper portion. of the tank above the pan.

2. An oil and gas separator comprising a spherical tank, a shallowpanextending across the tank .adjacent its center, means providing an inletto the .tank discharging onto thepan, anoiLdrain leading to the bottomof the tank from the pan,

.means providing anoil outlet from adjacent the bottom of the tank and agas outlet adjacent the top ofthe tank, partition means dividing the lower portion of the tank into an oil chamber anda quieting float chamber, a float in the float chamber, means for conducting gas from. said oil chambeizand quieting chamber to the upper portionof .the tank above the pan, and meansfor conducting overflow fromthe panto the oil chamber.

3. An oil and gas separator comprising a spherical tank, a pan extending acrossthe tank adjacent its center, meansproviding an inlet. for influent discharged .onto the pan, an oil drain leading from the pan to thelower .portionof the'tank therebeneath, means providing an oil outletfrom :separationof gas from oil takesplaceover the flow from the pantoflthe bottomof-thetank.

.pan'20 that a secondary separation .is permitted to take place in the lower portion of the tank so that. the oilthat is finallydelivered to the. oil outlet I6 is relatively free of ,gas. The passageSfl provides an overflow passage. In the event-that tangential direction, an oil drain leading fromthe .the oil is extremely frothy and tendstobuild up t0.an abnormally high level on the. pan 20 the .top. edge of the plate 29 will function somewhat as a weirpermittingthe excess of froth tooverflow 'from'the pan and pass downwardlyinto the lower chamber where itmay participate in the secondary. separation. .Ordinarily, the elevation of the topie'dge of the plate 29 is sufiiciently high sothat .the froth supportedton the pan 20 does not build up to this level.

It willbe appreciated bythose skilled'in theart that the advantages of a strong tank having a large volume and employin a minimum amount of .steel are retained in this separator in theme adjacent the bottom of .the tank, and agasoutlet from adjacent the top thereof, .means for conducting gas from beneath the pan toadjacent the top of the tank, and meansv for conducting over- 4. An oil and gas separator comprising a spherical tank, a. shallow conical pan extendingeacross the tank adjacent its center, means providing an inlet for discharging influentonto thepan in-a bottom of the, pan to the lower portion of .the tank therebeneath, means. providing anoil outletfrom adjacent the bottomof the tank and a gas outlet fromadjacent the top.thereof, means forconducting gas fromtbeneath the pan around the edge of. the pan to adjacent the top of thetank, andmeans providing an overflow, passage around the edge of .thetankfrom above the pantobe- V neath the pan withinthetank.

of .aspherically-shaped tank. However, by the use of the pan20- at or about a horizontal diameter through Ithetank a relatively large interface is provided which facilitates the separation .of .the ,gasfromthe oil.

' the pan in a tangential direction,

As the spherical tank provides a large volume 5. An oil. and ,gas .separator, a spherical tank and a shallow, conicaLDan extendingdiametrically across the tank at about the center thereof, an oil drain leading from the pan to the bottomof the tank, and means for discharging influent onto there beingizoil and gas outlets from the. tank adjacent the. bottom and top thereof respectively.

References Cited in I the. file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,016,641 Lincoln 'Oct."8,'1935 2,181,688 Walker Nov. 28,1939 2,489,370 Fowler Nov; 29, 1949 2,511,351 Laidley June 13,1950 

